Adrian Matejka, author of four books of poetry and Ruth Lilly Professor/Poet-in-Residence at Indiana University in Bloomington, has been named Poet Laureate of Indiana by the Indiana Arts Commission.

Indiana’s Poet Laureate serves a two-year term and has the goal of increasing public awareness of poetry and “the power of written and spoken work.” The selection is made by a committee of state leaders in higher education after a statewide call for nominations.

“It is an unbelievable honor to be selected as the sixth Poet Laureate of Indiana and to have the opportunity to give back to the great state that has given me so much,” Matejka said. “I can't imagine Mr. Dickerson and Mr. Morwick, the teachers who first encouraged me to write back at Pike High School, could have foreseen that their generosity and support would lead me to this incomparable distinction.”

Matejka’s books include National Poetry Series–winning Mixology and Pulitzer Prize–finalist and National Book Award–finalist The Big Smoke. His newest, Map to the Stars, was published this year.

Photo credit: Stephen Sproll